[Guide] In-depth guide for roleplaying Trolls!

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So, I have decided to compile a guide for the, obviously, coolest race in WoW, with clearly the coolest lore in WoW. Granted, some of the areas in their lore is rather underdeveloped, and have been filled up with the no longer canon WoW RPG and my own (hopefully reasonable) headcanon.

Table of Contents

History

Subraces

Physiology

Customs

Religion

Voodoo, Hoodoo, Juju and Mojo

Rituals

General customs

Tribal customs

Language

Racial classes

Tips, tricks and some ideas

History

Ancient times

Trolls are believed to be one of, if not the oldest race that was created neither by the Old Gods or the Titans. Thousand of years before the Night Elves summoned the Burning Legion, Trolls controlled the majority of the world. The Trolls ruled from the Zandalari Empire, led by a tribe of Trolls of the same name. The Zandalari were allies with the Mogu, and yet there were some animosity. The Trolls believed themselves superior to the Mogu, due to the presence of their Loa gods and the fact they did not use slaves. This animosity would later become indifference between the two empires. The Zandalari Empire had a strict caste system. This led to some of Trolls of the lower castes to leave and form what would later become the Gurubashi, Amani empire and even the smaller Zul'Drak tribe.

Though there were some frictions between the Amani and Gurubashi, they were allies for the most part. The Trolls united against a common foe, the Azj'Aqir, the combined might of what would later be the Qiraji Empire, the Nerubians and the Mantid. This war lasted for thousands of years, but in the end, the trolls won due to sheer persistence.

During this time of peace, a tribe of Dark Trolls, who had split from the Amani, settled the heart of Kalimdor around what would later be known as the Well of Eternity. Their close proximity to the magical waters would eventually mutate these Trolls into the early Night Elves.

Under the onslaught of this new race and their destructive arcane magic, the empires fell. Within a few years of war, both the Gurubashi and Amani splintered, which has been the cause for a long standing hatred for the Elves.

After the War of the Ancients, large swaths of both the Amani and Gurubashi fell under the waves. They now reside in the forests of Quel'Thalas and the jungles of Stranglethorn respectively.

The Troll Wars

One of the oldest wars in Azeroth is known as the Troll Wars, which was fought between the High Elves of Quel'thalas, the Humans of Arathor and the Forest Trolls of the Amani Empire.

When the High Elves came to the Eastern Kingdoms, they founded Quel'Thalas on Amani holy ground. When the Amani retaliated, they were quickly scared off by the powerful magic of the elves. For 4.000 years the trolls waited and schemed while their numbers grew. Finally, they laid siege to Quel'Thalas once more, hopelessly outnumbering the defenders. In their desperation, the Elves turned to the Humans of Arathor, teaching them magic in exchange for their help. These combined armies, fought back the Amani warbands, using powerful fire magic to halt the regenerative powers of the Trolls. This resounding defeat completely broke the Amani empire, and they would never be able to rise as an empire again.

The Wrath of the Soulflayer

To the south of the Amani, the Gurubashi were struggling in the new lands. 1.500 years before the opening of the dark portal, in their desperation the Gurubashi Empire sought the help of a new, darker god: Hakkar the Soulflayer. Hakkar gave the Trolls his secrets of blood, with which the Gurubashi managed to take over most of Stranglethorn and even a few islands in the South Seas. As with all Loa though, Hakkar had a price, For his help, Hakkar demanded souls be sacrificed to him daily, to eventually gain enough power to enter Azeroth physically. In time, the Zandalari helped the Gurubashi realize what Hakkar was scheming. This led to a massive battle between some of the strongest Gurubashi tribes and the priests of Hakkar, the Atal'ai. Not a lot is known about this war, but we do know that at the cusp of defeat, the Gurubashi managed to banish Hakkar's avatar, and exile the Atal'ai to the Swamps of Sorrow. Here, the Atal'ai created the temple of Atal'Hakkar and continued to serve their dark god.

After this great war, the Gurubashi Empire split up, with the Bloodscalp, Darkspear and Skullsplitter tribes setting off to find their own lands.

Trolls in the Horde

The trolls first joined the Orc Horde during the Second War, when the current leader of the Amani Tribe, Zul'jin, joined the Horde to get revenge on the High Elves. When Orgrim Doomhammer later decided to change their assault on Quel'Thalas to the Humans of Lordaeron. This outraged Zul'jin to the point where he left the Horde. Only the Revantusk tribe kept a small amount of loyalty to the Horde.

During the Third War, when Thrall sailed to Kalimdor, his forces crashed on the Darkspear Isles. Here the Horde helped the Darkspear Tribe, first against the Alliance and later the forces of the Sea Witch. Due to the last wish of their dying chieftain, Sen'jin, the Darkspear swore loyalty to the Horde and followed them to Durotar. Later, the Horde would also send emmisaries to the Revantusk, to renew their loyalty.

The end of the Troll Empires

In the current days, the Troll Empires have all crumbled. The amani were outraged when the new faction of Blood Elves joined his former Horde allies, but before he could bring out his Amani warriors, a group of adventurers went into Zul'Aman and slew the Troll Warlord.

In Tanaris, Horde and Alliance adventurers had ground the Sandfury Troll's capital of Zul'Farrak to dust.

When the Atal'ai and Hakkari took over Zul'Gurub from the Gurubashi, and managed to summon Hakkar into our world, the Zandalari sent word for help. On orders by the Zandalari leader, God-King Rastakhan, a group of adventurers, helped by the Zandalari envoys, ventured into Zul'Gurub and slew the Blood God.

In the north, pressed by the advance of the Undead Scourge, the Drakkari Trolls sacrificed their own Loa for the power to hold fast. Driven mad with power, the Drakkari Trolls ignored the Zandalari tribes warnings, and challenged both the Horde, Alliance and even the Argent Crusade. With the help of the remaining Drakkari Loa, the adventurers of these forces quickly dispatched the empowered Trolls, marching into Gundrak itself and slaying the last of their champions.

A new Troll Empire

During the events of the Cataclysm, the Revantusk tribe officially joined the horde, fighting to claim the Hinterlands for the Horde. The Shatterspear tribe, a group of highly isolationist Jungle Trolls in Darkshore were brought down by the Alliance, and the remnants would eventually join the Horde.

In Zul'Gurub Jin'do, a Gurubashi witch doctor slain during the fight against Hakkar, had risen himself as a shade. He had plans to revive himself and the Gurubashi High Priests. By draining the power of Hakkar, Jin'do planned to bring the Gurubashi to greatness once again. While his plans were interrupted halfway, he had still managed to ressurect himself and a few of the High Priests.

During the Horde and Alliance invasion of the Twilight Highlands, a new power had arisen among the Zandalari Trolls. Zul, a mysterious prophet called for a meeting between the leaders of the Darkspear, Amani, Gurubashi and even the remnants of the Drakkari. He wished to unite all the tribes in a single empire, and save their race from extinction. Both Daakara of the Amani and Jin'do of the Gurubashi agrees to join Zul, while Vol'jin of the Darkspear tribe left.

Vol'jin, knowing this new empire would be a grave threat to the Horde and Alliance, sent envoys to Orgrimmar and Stormwind to ask for help. While Vol'jin managed to keep the Amani contained, the Gurubashi managed to strike out at both the Horde and the Alliance, before adventurers managed to beat them back.

With the help of the Farstriders of the Blood Elves, and the Rangers of the High Elves, Vol'jin himself led a strike team into Zul'Aman, to slay Dakaara. With the Amani leader slain, Zul lost his interest in the Fores Trolls.

Meanwhile, the Gurubashi Trolls, empowered by the Zandalari, struck out of Zul'Gurub, though with the help of a band of brave adventurers, the Darkspear managed to enter Zul'Gurub and slay Jin'do. Thus, the Zandalari influence was lost, but at the cost of the Soulflayer's freedom.

Rise of the Thunder King

When the mist surrounding the island of Pandaria lifted, the Zandalari saw an opportunity to gain these lands for themselves, by renewing their ties with the Mogu. To this end, they invaded Kun-Lai, looking for the corpse of the Thunder King, first emperor of the Mogu. They succeeded in this endeavour, and sent the Council of Elders, leaders of the Farraki, Amani, Gurubashi and Drakkari tribes to help him. It didn't take long before the Alliance and Horde assaulted the Mogu though, ending another of Zul's plans.

Blood in the snow

Undeterred, Zul next sent an emissary to the Frostmane in Dun Morogh, helping them create an army for an assault on Ironforge. Moira Thaurassian, Varian Wrynn and a band of adventurers defended the Dwarven capital and slew the leader of the Frostmane.

Subraces

Trolls are one of the most adaptable races on Azeroth, shown through their large amount of sub-races, specialized for whatever climate they inhabit.

Physiologi

There are some traits that can be found on all the different subraces. All Trolls have three fingers on each hand, and most of them also have two toes, though there are a few who have a toe-like protusion from their heel. All Trolls also have tusks, with the males having the largest, with the females' tusks being little more than overgrown incisors.

On average, Dark, Ice and Zandalari Trolls are larger and more muscular than their cousins.

There exists another type of Troll, which although not a sub-species, is physically different from most other Trolls: Dire Trolls. These hulking humanoids are often seen as monstrous by other races, but they are viewed as equal by other Trolls. It is known that regular Trolls can be turned into Dire Trolls through both alchemical and magical means, though they may also just be born bigger.

Jungle Trolls have a short layer of soft fur, which ranges in hues of purple to grey and even blue and some tints of green.

Forest trolls have, through a mutation, evolved to be able to support some plant life. Most Forest Trolls will grow a layer of moss at a few months of age.

Ice Trolls have a blue tinted skin, growing neither fur or moss. They typically have thick manes of hair. While they are called Ice Trolls, they are capable of living in any biome.

Sand Trolls have coarse, cracked skin usually ranging in colours from brown to gold, bearing only a semblance of their Jungle Troll ancestors. They typically have thinner manes of hair than their cousins.

Zandalari Trolls have skin colours ranging from grey, black, green and blue with their eyes glowing either yellow or blue. Some Zandalari Trolls have stone-esque patches growing on their skin, which can in time grow into spikes. They are generally the tallest of the Troll species. They are considered the finest specimens of Trolls, some Humans even liking them to "The Elves of Trolls".

Dark Trolls have purple skin and is one of the tallest specimen. They have pale yellow eyes that glow in the dark.

All Trolls have regenerative powers, that will save them from all but the most grievous wounds. They are able to regrow limbs and organs. It has been shown that they have some measure of control over their regeneration, for example being able to choose whether or not to get scars. Some warriors choose to keep scars from their battles, to show their prowess, Vol'jin chose to keep the scar on his throat as a reminder. It has been shown that cautarizing the wound will stop Trolls from regenerating, whether the fire is natural or not. The Loa gods also have the ability to empower or remove Troll's regenerative powers.

Customs

Religion

The Trolls have a very complex believ system, rife with dark magic and primal gods, known as Loa. There is countless Loa, most weak but some incredibly powerful. Most are shapeless, but quite a few have animal forms. It is even possible for Trolls to become Loas in the afterlife. Families will often have their own small familial Loa that they worship, cities have their own guardian Loa and the strongest Loa are worshipped by one or several empires.

The Loa will often help their Troll followers, but it always comes in the form of a deal. Often times the Loa will grant a boon to someone they feel deserve it, or trade a blessing for a favor.

Loa usually prefer being the only Loa that a Troll worships, and frown upon Trolls who worship several.

It appears that different tribes see some Loa as being inferior. For example, some Darkspear view bird Loa to be weak, capricious and best left for the Amani.

Some Loa have also been shown to be Ancients like Goldrinn or Aviana, and Troll druids have even been heard referring to wisps as Loa.

Different tribes usually worship two to four Loa each, so instead of listing each here, I will provide a link to a list you may peruse at your own interest.

Voodoo is the most common type of magic among the Trolls, as well as a major part of their religion. It is a brutal, dark form of magic, drawing power from sacrifices, blood, spirits, mojo and the Loa.

Trolls are as a rule very superstitious, and have many every day rituals.

It is believed by Trolls that ghosts of the deceased stay behind after death as jealous spirits, who must be appeased with blood.

Some of the ways that voodoo can be utilized:

Enslave spirits (And raise them to fight)

Enslave and mind control living beings

Can be used to poison food and presumably water (Voodoo poison can create voodoo zombies)

Empower inanimate objects, such as voodoo golems or tikis

Cure ailments and heal

Empower alchemical potions

Raise the dead as zombies (Or mummies, as in the case of the Sand Trolls)

Mojo and Juju are types of fuel used to fuel voodoo and hoodoo spells and rituals. While there is no clear cut definition of what these are, it can reasonably be described as some form of life force. Sweat, blood, venom and mucus are some examples of things that have been used. Mojo is used in spells animating voodoo golems and tikis.

Hoodoo is a form of enchanting, though it used mojo and juju to power it's enchantments, rather than arcane magic. This can also reasonably mean that the more powerful the mojo, the more powerful an enchantment you can make.

In the deeply superstitious society of Trolls, Witch Doctors and other users of voodoo carry a lot of esteem. They see bad omens everywhere, and require the witch doctors to read and exorcise these omens. Witch Doctors are also in a position to govern success and failure of a battle, more so than even the warriors. Trolls believe that a Witch Doctor, if they read the omens correctly and perform the right rituals, can sway the outcome of any endeavour. Likewise, they can use their magic to ruin the endeavours of those who incur their wrath.

Rituals

There are a few rituals common in Troll society.

One is the ritualistic consumption of their enemies. By eating the heart of their enemy, they will gain the power of their enemy, strength and magical.

Another of these rituals is the funeral rites of Trolls. It is custom when a Troll dies, to mutilate and kill an enemy next to the departed. The belief is that mutilating the victim, malignant spirits will be drawn to the bloodshed, and leave the departed to leave for the afterlife without being harrased. Trolls frown upon cremation, since they believe the body creates a link to this world, which ensures that the spirit won't wander around lost forever. Recently, Witch Doctors have begun carving out the eyes of the corpse, to give the spirit somewhere to reside. The Darkspear (and presumably the Revantusk) have recently begun to sacrifice animals instead of people, since the Horde frowns upon this form of sacrifice. If the mourner's have no time for these rituals, they can cut their arms and use their own blood to draw in the malignant spirits.

Trolls believe that the spirit of a slain enemy will linger in the body for a while, before it is free to wreak havoc upon the world. To prevent this, Trolls will shrink the head of the victim, trapping the spirit within. This effectively makes it possible for the Voodoist who performed the ritual to use the captured spirit. Most members of the Horde frown upon headshrinking, although they see it as a step up from cannibalism and human(oid?) sacrifice.

General customs

A lot of Troll customs have already been described, but there are a few that fall out of prior category.

Most trolls, with the exception of the Darkspear (and presumably Revantusk), are highly xenophobic. Since several thousand years before the War of the Ancients, and the Second War, Trolls have in general not have any positive interactions with other species. And as can be seen in game, most of the current day Trolls are hostile to more or less everyone.

Troll society is also highly patriachal. It was only upon entering the Horde, that female Trolls in the Darkspear tribe began enjoying equal privileges. Traditionally, female Trolls have been seen as little more than mates, to watch over hut and children. While female Trolls have been able to rise to positions of power, such as Witch Doctors, even then they have enjoyed much less respect than their male peers.

Tribes

Here I will just quickly talk about some of the major tribes in the game.

The Gurubashi Tribe live in Stranglethorn Vale, and were the biggest and strongest tribe in the Gurubashi Empire. They have a history of deep animosity with both the Horde and Alliance. They were also the tribe to call upon the Loa of Blood, Hakkar the Soulflayer, which led to a great civil war within the tribe. They have been shown to prefer guerilla tactics in war, using voodoo-empowered snakes, poisoned food and the like, to soften their enemies.

The Amani Tribe lives in what is now known as the Ghostlands. They were the biggest and strongest tribe in the Amani Empire They used to be one of the great Troll empires, but lost that status after the Troll War. They have a deep hatred for the Elves of Quel'Thalas, Blood and High Elves both. This hatred has also extended to the Horde whom allied with the Blood Elves.

The Revantusk Tribe split from the Amani empire, and is the only tribe of Forest Trolls loyal to the Horde. They have long been locked in conflict with the other Forest Trolls in the Hinterlands, as well as the Wildhammer Dwarves. They are also one of the few tribes who had a female leader, even with the traditional views.

The Darkspear Tribe is the Jungle Troll tribe from which the in game Troll characters hail. They are perhaps the least "barbaric" Troll tribe, having been influenced by the rest of the Horde. Having allied with the Horde, they are perhaps one of the only Tribes flourishing. In recent years they retook their new home, the Echo Isles, after a crazed Witch Doctor has declared it his own.

The Farraki Tribe (Formerly Sandfury tribe) lives in Zul'Farrak in Tanaris. The Farraki Tribe never managed to grow into a proper empire, held back by Qiraji and adventurers. Due to the harsh climate of Tanaris, ressurecting the dead as mummies is commonplace for the Farraki. When the climate is as rough as it is there, every hand is needed to keep up.

The Drakkari Tribe live in Northrend, and have been almost completely wiped out during the campaign in Northrend. Desperate to defend their homeland Zul'Drak, they sacrificed their own Loa, empowering themselves with godly mojo to beat back the Scourge. This led to the adventurers of the Alliance and Horde to invade their capital of Gundrak. While the Tribe is much weaker these days, they were still called upon by the Prophet Zul, and sent an envoy to the Council of Elders for the Thunder King.

The Frostmane Tribe is a tribe of Ice Trolls native to Dun Morogh. They have a long standing feud with the Dwarves of Ironforge, whom they believe trespess on the ancestral grounds. They recently recieved help from the Zandalari in an attack on Ironforge.

The Zandalari Tribe is the oldest tribe, and holds the most respect between all of the tribes. They are seen as priests and mediators betwen the other tribes. They live on the island of Zuldazar, due to having vast mountain ranges in which countless Loa reside. After the Cataclysm, the island began breaking apart and sinking. The tribe is led by God-King Rastakhan, voice of the Loa, a powerful Witch Doctor who have ruled the tribe for over 200 years. Recently a mysterious prophet, known only as Zul has arisen. Zul is the Troll behind the New Troll Empire and aiding the Frostmane. A civil war is brewing on Zuldazar, between Rastakhan who has been very passive the recent years, and Zul who hopes to unite all Trolls in the world, against anyone not of their people.

The Shadowtooth Tribe is the only currently known tribe of Dark Trolls. Next to nothing is known about this isolationist and primitive tribe. It is known they live in caves, and only come up at night to hunt and raid. They are believed to be the most savage and brutal of all the Troll tribes, some scholars even believing that they may have lost the ability to speak zandali, the Troll tongue. The Shadowtooth Tribe lived in caves beneath Mount Hyjal, and have apparently been wiped out by the Twilight Hammer invasion, though the deepest reaches of their caves have yet to be searched.

Language

The language of the Trolls is called zandali. When speaking orcish, Trolls have an accent clearly inspied by the Cuban/Jamaican accent. Being an accent from zandali, this is only present when Trolls speak orcish or common. As such, Trolls do not have this accent when they speak their mother tongue.

Troll children only recieve single syllable names, to make place for suffix and prefixes later in life.

Here is a list of the two (four) most important prefix/suffixes in zandali

Jin - Is a name given to a leader (e.g. Vol'jin), but since a lot of vendors and other Troll NPC's also use this title, I surmise that Jin can also refer to the head of a family, and not just the leader of a tribe.

Zul - Is the name given to Witch Doctors, upon becoming full witch doctors. This name also gives the Troll using it a lot of respect and authority.

Zufli - Is a derogatory term for female witch doctors, litterally meaning "Little Witch". Some female witch doctors have taken pride in the name though.

Fon - A suffix added to the name, when you choose to deliberately remove yourself from Troll society.

Racial classes

Trolls have three classes which I call their racial classes: Witch Doctors, Hexxers, Primals and Shadow Hunters. While these classes are not unique to Trolls, they are the most common among them.

Witch Doctor

Witch Doctors are the primary practioners of Voodoo. They hold a place of great respect in their tribe, while non-Trolls often view their dark and barbaric magic with distaste. A large part of their work is alchemical in nature. While brewing their concoctions, they will chant and use their powers to awaken the spirits latent in their ingredients. Their potent magic in the sense that it attacks the mind, and can be hard to see and counter. A witch doctor can cause their victim to feel severe pain, without actually causing them any harm. They may also dominate the mind of others, especially if they use some of their magical potions to weaken their enemies. They also have the ability to confuse their enemies and make them mistake friend for foe, or even alter, remove and add memories.

One of the common tools of the witch doctors is voodoo dolls, made of tallow and the victim's hair, blood or skin. Any harm done to the doll will be transferred to the victim, though the doll is brittle and can't take much damage.

Another tool of the witch doctors is the voodoo rattle. When they channel their dark magic through this, they can produce a rhythmic sound. The strongest witch doctors can even upgrade this effect to the so-called Death Rattle, which will drain the life of the victims who hears it.

Hexxer

Hexxers (or hexers) are another kind of voodooists. While any practitioner knows how to invoke and bind spirits, hexxers excel at it.

They use performances to attract spirits and command them. These performances, called hex chants, can be anything from singing, dancing, hand gestures and even music. When these spirits have been called upon, they can create area effects around the hexxer, while giving the practitioner full control of who to target. A prime example of this, could be WC3 Shadow Hunter’s Big Bad Voodoo. The hexxer can keep up a chant for as long as he can concentrate on it, and he can even start a second chant, while the first one is going on.

While a high skill in performances are required to become a proper hexxer, it is also vital that they are good craftsmen. Things such as wood and bone carving, stone cutting and even glassblowing are good examples. This skill in crafting ties in to the second speciality of Hexxers, hex idols. By infusing some part of a creature, or even a person for particularly skilled hexxers, into the idol, they may gain control of it. These parts could be hair, claw and nail clippings, skin, scales and so on. These idols contain a spirit hostile to the victim, creating a permanent curse for as long as the idol is intact.

The spirits that a hexxer uses are invisible to all but the hexxer himself, so the only way for others to be sure of a hexxer’s abilities, is to see the effect. This has led to a lot of people believing hexxer’s to be little more than smoke and mirrors, though there is no questioning the power of a true hexxer.

Shadow Hunter

Shadow Hunters are probably the highest respected class for all trolls. They are a mix of voodooists, shamans and hunters. Their traditional equipment are glaives and the magical rus’kah masks, but they have also been seen using bows and spears, like traditional hunters and warriors. shadow hunters were the chieftains of the old troll tribes, before they became the empires. It can be surmised that this is still the case in the tribes unaffiliated with these empires. Vol’jin for example, was a shadow hunter and Rokhan who is one of the possible next Darkspear leaders, is also a shadow hunter.

Shadow hunters are favoured by the Loa, to the point where enemy tribes would treat captured enemy shadow hunters with respect, out of fear that the Loa would curse them. These captured shadow hunters would even, traditionally, be given a golden dagger to be sacrificed with, so that they could “shine like the Loa”.

Shadow hunters can use a blend of voodoo, shadow magic and even light magic. These powers are granted through blessings from the Loa. Some examples of these powers are the ability to heal their allies, curse their enemies into the form of a toad and even craft wards that can attack their enemies. Traditionally, Darkspear Shadow Hunters would traditionally create serpent wards.

Aspiring shadow hunters will have to pass a trial, in which they are judged by the Loa whether or not they are worthy to gain the title. These Loa will then grant the shadow hunters their abilities. The aspiring shadow hunters will create rus’kah masks, specially crafted wooden masks that they wear while communing with the Loa and casting rituals. Back when the Darkspear Tribe still lived on the Darkspear Isles, they had a jungle called First Home, wherein their Loa resided. Aspiring shadow hunters would enter this jungle and be judged, and if found wanting they would never return. As shadow hunters grow in power, their ties to the Loa strengthen, granting them even more powerful boons.

Tips and tricks

Here a few tips you might consider when playing a Trolls, and some questions you can ask yourself to help yourself build the backstory of your character.

·Decide on a tribe for your character.

oNote that, at the moment, only Darkspear, Revantusk and Shatterspear are Horde aligned. The Zandalari can maybe be seen as neutral, while the rest are mostly hostile to everyone else.

·If your Troll is a Darkspear, do they then follow the new ways, or perhaps the old ways? If so, how do you deal with females enjoying the same status as males, and the traditional xenophobic ways of the Trolls?

·Vice versa for the other tribes, do they follow the traditions, or the new ones from the Horde? What about if you are a Revantusk or Shatterspear, who are even more recent additions to the Horde.

·Note that the Darkspear have only been part of the Horde for about 10 years (according to the most up to date timeline I could find), so there are probably a lot of Darkspear that have not yet accepted the new ways.

·What is your Troll’s view on Elves? Do they hate them due to the ancestral rivalry (Darkspear/Gurubashi/Revantusk) or even more recently from the Troll Wars? (Amani)

·What is your Troll’s view on the Zandalari? Should the Trolls join together in a master race or align themselves with the Horde?

Hope this can help those that might playing a Troll intriguing (and bring a few more people to this awesome race)

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Well done. No bullshit, clearly written, and includes the major importance of the troll race, while filling out the holes in the story yourself with reasonable logical discussion. Very good. Liked subscribed and ray william johnson'd.

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Quite a nice summary of the supreme troll race. Some minor mistakes here and there, but nothing to hold grudge against. Definitely good for someone who doesn't want to spend few hours reading through various lore sources.

Although the formatting is a wee bit strange to say at least.

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Quite a nice summary of the supreme troll race. Some minor mistakes here and there, but nothing to hold grudge against. Definitely good for someone who doesn't want to spend few hours reading through various lore sources.

Although the formatting is a wee bit strange to say at least.

What minor mistakes? Put them here so he can fix them.

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They really are just little things like the information about jungle trolls having fur, despite their models never showing it or Zul' meaning "great/important" in general, rather than being prefix limited to witch doctors (I gave a quick look to all named witch doctors and none of them has this prefix) or troll society being very patriarchal, because we know about important female trolls even outside of 'horde' trolls, they are not as numerous as males, but that's the same with all races.

Also, there are few missing things which may come handy:

Surnames: Adopted mostly, but still rarely, by only 'horde' trolls, some of them do have surnames. They are most of the time simple and they are not written in Zandal. examples: Longtusk, Fishaxe, Hateflower, etc.

Cannibalism is rather common, sometimes even important, practice in troll culture, excluding Zandalari, Raventusk and Darkspear

Although I am probably most disappointed by utter disregard of, for some the most iconic class, the fabled Troll Berserker (I think you just forgot about them for a moment there)

Edited February 1, 2018 by Vojtik

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They really are just little things like the information about jungle trolls having fur, despite their models never showing it or Zul' meaning "great/important" in general, rather than being prefix limited to witch doctors (I gave a quick look to all named witch doctors and none of them has this prefix) or troll society being very patriarchal, because we know about important female trolls even outside of 'horde' trolls, they are not as numerous as males, but that's the same with all races.

Also, there are few missing things which may come handy:

Surnames: Adopted mostly, but still rarely, by only 'horde' trolls, some of them do have surnames. They are most of the time simple and they are not written in Zandal. examples: Longtusk, Fishaxe, Hateflower, etc.

Cannibalism is rather common, sometimes even important, practice in troll culture, excluding Zandalari, Raventusk and Darkspear

Although I am probably most disappointed by utter disregard of, for some the most iconic class, the fabled Troll Berserker (I think you just forgot about them for a moment there)

As far as I know, they do have fur. But it's covered in moss.. Lichen, something.. That gives them their distinct color.

Quoted from the wiki;

'' Their moss-like skin color ranges from light green to blue and purple. However, the jungle trolls' bodies are covered in a short, soft fur which cause the trolls to appear purple or gray.[1] ''

Nice, clean explaination of Trolls. I like it a lot!

Edited February 1, 2018 by Illithiss

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@Illithiss Firstly try to use some more up to date site than Wowwiki. But regardless of the site, also always try to find the original source - in this case, it is from the old troll compendium and there is a decent possibility that some of the info there is a bit outdated, much like in most other original guides.

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Considering there's no information regarding the moss-hide thing on trolls if you disregard it it you're as wrong as somebody who cites to RPG.

` Due to a mutation that took place many millennia ago, the forest trolls' bodies can support plant life to a limited extent, considered by some to be a strong affinity for plant life. A thin layer of moss inevitably grows on the skin of forest trolls shortly after they are born and gives them their characteristic green coloring.[9] Their bodies could also support other simple forms of vegetation, such as algae.[10] `

If you want to be a prude and ONLY cite Wowpedia (dumb in most cases because the information is usually exactly the same under rare occassions like dragon lore which no one cares about), both are from Troll Compedium & the vanilla lore-piece written when Zul'Aman was first opened.

In it, it says " Description: The jungle trolls' bodies are covered in short, soft fur that causes the trolls to appear purple or gray. Jungle trolls are also unusually lithe relative to other trolls. "

2.

Regarding Zul meaning "great/important". Let me just paste what I wrote about the name Zul.

"Jin - Is a name given to a leader (e.g. Vol'jin), but since a lot of vendors and other Troll NPC's also use this title, I surmise that Jin can also refer to the head of a family, and not just the leader of a tribe.

Zul - Is the name given to Witch Doctors, upon becoming full witch doctors. This name also gives the Troll using it a lot of respect and authority."

In the link, under the section "Zandalari Primer: Official Translations" Zul is translated into "Voodoo master" and they go on to explain "A prefix added to a name when they become one"

Further down during the same link (This though being from the non-canon RPG) they use the same definition. This is taken from a twitter post from "Loreology", an account created by Blizzard's current "Head of Lore" Sean Copeland, where he answered lore questions.

" Female trolls hold no place in regular troll society. Male trolls consider them mates, nothing more — though they honor and give respect to female trolls who distinguish themselves in battle. "

Granted, this seems to have been taken from the Horde Player's Handbook from the RPG, so it is technically not canon. As I did state in my opening, I have drawn upon my own (hopefully reasonable) headcanon as well as the RPG lore, to fill out blanks. Granted, I didn't know that this was cited from the RPG's, and am considering removing it as such.

I know using RPG lore and headcanon is not everyone's cup of tea, but I personally like it (within reason, of course) since it can add some needed depth to some of the lore.

4.

You're absolutely right! I did forgot surnames, and will add them.

5.

While I did add the cannibalism, I didn't make it clear which tribes frown on it (And I'll of course rectify this)

6.

Same goes for the Berserker. When looking at the classes, I mainly had my focus on the voodoo-oriented classes. I'll be sure to add the berserkers.

In you original post, you also mention something about the formatting being weird. Do you mind pointing these out? Might have come from when I moved the document from word and into here, so I'm interested in what it is

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Yeah, I know that some blizzard employee long time ago said that Zul' is a prefix for witchdoctors, but the only trolls with Zul in their names we know of are Zul and Zul'jin and I think that prophet Zul is not a witch doctor per say, but one could easily class him as one (but I don't even think it's prefix in his case rather just his name) and Zul'jin is most definitely not a witch doctor neither much of a voodoo master. Combined with the fact that most troll capitals/large cities have Zul' prefix, I would say it is logical to assume it could mean something along the lines of great or important. Not to say it can't be a prefix for witchdoctors, we just haven't seen one yet.

Regarding the formatting - you are changing the font size a lot so often normal text is the same size as the heading/subheading and sometimes you do some strange paragraphing like this

19 hours ago, Jinal said:

enter this jungle and be judged, and if found wanting they would never return. As shadow hunters grow in power, their ties to the Loa strengthen, granting them even more powerful boons.

Tips and tricks

Here a few tips you might consider when playing a Trolls, and some questions you can ask yourself to help yourself build the backstory of your character.

when the heading is sticked to the previous paragraph and separated from its own paragraph. Nothing wrong with the text itself, it's just not much aesthetic.

I completely agree with using RPG as a source of lore, but only as long as it is logical and we are not presented something contradicting from more canon source.

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And the post from Blizzard is still the most up to date official statement we have on the matter. I also quickly looked through wowhead, and found three different mobs with the word zul in their name (Two as prefix, one suffix).

http://www.wowhead.com/npc=33372/zultore - Zul'tore, Grand Champion of Sen'jin. Now this one is a bit trickier, since his in game class is a hunter, and the name refers to witch doctors. I think it is reasonable to presume that the grand champion of Sen'jin would be a shadow hunter though, rather than a regular hunter. (What with the prestige of the class and all that).

And then we of course have Zul, whom I would say it would make sense to be a witch doctor. Speculation aside on whether or not his visions are granted by Old Gods, I'd say it's safe to assume that he would have received his visions by the Loa, kind of how the Loa spoke to Vol'jin about the next Warchief. That would probably tie him into some form of a witch doctor.

Regarding Zul'Gurub, Zul'Aman, Zul'Farrak and even Zuldazar, I suppose, I don't know. Do you have any source that claims that Zul in this case means "great/large"?. I haven't been able to find any translations of the names, further than "Capital of X Troll Empire"

And regarding the formatting, thanks! That are some slip-ups from the document change. I'll get that fix'd.

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Missed those trolls. I would call Zul'brin a witch doctor and Khar'zul probably as well, but Zul'tore is not one since he uses a bow and wears rather heavy armour.

There are no official translations of Zul' (but that goes for most of Zandali, I hope we get much more in BfA), but when it is almost always in a name of something, that is great or important, one can make an assumption about it's meaning. It's meaning is obviously not limited to only witchdoctor prefix, because of the many other occasions it is used in and "great" just is the most logical meaning for those situations many were able to come up with.

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from Wowpedia, blizzard official lore website, and while some of the things here are RPG, the information we have on the Zul' thing is basically that it's dedicated to some form of important character or leader in their society. Can be a witch doctor, can be a badass warrior lord, can be anyone of importance.

Never really understood the reason to abandon RPG when that's the only alternative that presents an explanation. If you have A) no information, and B) a shit ton of information, isn't it obvious you are going to use a shit ton of information rather than none at all? People who claim RPG is useless is absolutely beyond me. Stop searching for an explanation when there already is one in the RPG presented clearly and logically. If that isn't to your liking, neither can headcanons from players of this community account for anything given it isn't "canon" (the excuse RPG haters constantly buzz)

With that said, there's absolutely no need to "look at BfA for answers", because there's already an answer. Thread derailed. Thank you again for a great troll guide!